


Deadly Games

by Faith280



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 17:39:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 8,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17329487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Faith280/pseuds/Faith280
Summary: Agent Washington thought he could handle anything the Army could throw at him. But life with the Freelancers...? This was turning into a game he didn’t know if he could win.





	1. 1

Deadly Games

  
Chapter 1

 

“Wow, this place is huge.”

  
The Director shot him a funny look.

  
He made a face at himself. ‘Come on David, grow up. Stop being such a dork. Dad would be pissed.’

  
Director Church himself was giving David the guided tour. He lied and said it was because of the impeccable military advantage David would bring to the Freelancer Program.

In actuality, it was because David’s father was very rich and was willing to donate very generously if David was turned into a well trained solider. So a solider he would become no matter what it took.

  
“From here on out, you will be referred to only as Agent Washington. You will never go by your real name, that point is very important. Your first stop is to the armory to get geared up. Be careful with it, it was specially picked out for you. You are dismissed son.”

  
“Yes sir.”

  
David forgot himself and saluted. ‘Ugh, this isn’t an officer, I shouldn’t have done that. I feel like an idiot.’ His face burned with embarrassment as he tried to subtly run away.

  
The Director stood shaking his head. He could never make a solider out of this pathetic kid. With no doubt he’ll get killed or injured in his first fight. His parents couldn’t blame Church for that. After all, he did his part of the arrangement, what happened to this kid was out of his hands. Hmm, this has to be arranged. He grinned as he went back to his office.

  
Unknown to Washington, he attracted more attention than he realized.

From the shadows, a Freelancer in purple and green watched the spectacle with interest; Agent South Dakota.

  
South watched Wash carefully, she didn’t know what to make of him. That dark blonde, freckle faced kid looked like a dork, but he was a cute dork. He looked such an honestly nice guy, so different from the gorgeous psychos she used to date. They always treated her like garbage, this boy never would.

  
“What are you looking at Sis?”

  
South jumped. Damn, she slipped up, North shouldn’t have been able to startle her. Twins always had a way of knowing. Her face burned red with embarrassment, she couldn’t control it.

  
“Nothing, just a new recruit. Looks nice and stupid, he should be an easy target.”

  
South was worried, her twin brother could always read her mind. She so didn’t want him to know she liked this guy. South Dakota was proud of being the antisocial, badass of the team. She worked hard for that title, it was the perfect cover up for her sensitive inner nature.

She wouldn’t give that up for any man, not even her brother.

  
Luckily, North didn’t seem to notice. “Whoah girl, keep your talons off of him. He looks like a scared kid. You’re going to traumatize him.”

  
She blew North off with her usual nasty attitude. “Fine, whatever. I can look if I want to. You can’t always be around to protect him.”

  
That evil little grin of hers worried him. A lot of her personality worried him. Deep down, she was good hearted, she always meant well.

He would always defend her character against anyone. But she was also a spoiled, rotten brat with a spiteful attitude that she didn’t mean to have. It would surface when she was frustrated. Anger management was never her specialty.

  
North narrowed his eyes and carefully checked over the new guy.

“That kid is never going to make it. Not without some help.”   
He shook his head sadly. He felt he was looking at the program’s first casualty. What a shame.

Even from this distance, the kid looked completely overwhelmed. North was a trained sniper, noticing details like this was his job. He was wandering through the corridors like he was lost.

  
North sighed, he really should leave this alone. This kid wasn’t his responsibility. But something in North’s compassionate nature wouldn’t let him turn away. Like it or not, he felt this was the start of something. What it was he didn’t know, he was just going with it.

  
North sprinted down the stairs and easily caught up with the new guy. “Hi there, you look like you need some help.”

  
Washington gave a relieved smile. In his first miserable day here, not one person had even acknowledged him at all. Now the tall blond standing beside him was the first attempt of friendly he had seen.

The tired smile on the man’s face made his icy blue eyes light up. The friend attempt seemed genuine, so Washington was willing to trust him.

  
“Yes, I’m supposed to go to the armory for my suit, but I have no idea where that is.”

  
“Oh that’s easy. C’mon, I’ll walk you over. I’m Agent North Dakota, the sniper specialist.” He added with a laugh.

  
“I’m David, er Agent Washington… I forgot. I don’t have a specialty… yet.”

  
North smiled, “Don’t worry kid, that’ll come with time, we’ll work on it.”

  
To himself he thought, “I just hope you have the time to catch on. It would be a shame.”  



	2. 2

Chapter 2

 

 

Washington stepped out for the first time in his new armor. He liked the dark steel grey color, but wasn’t exactly thrilled with the yellow. This didn’t seem like it was meant for him. This is the military, what could he do about it?

  
The suit was too hot and cumbersome, he could hardly move. He couldn’t see out of the helmet and he could barely breathe.

How the hell do the other Freelancers work like this? When he finally thought he was getting the hang of the suit and he could walk, he stumbled and nearly crashed into a wall.

  
He heard an applause. “Way to go newbie, that wall was a pretty dangerous fellow. You saved us all.”

  
He was still having trouble seeing, so he had to make a direct turn to see who was speaking.

A tall gold figure was laughing like crazy at him. Right away, Washington disliked him, this one would be trouble.

  
“Good god, how are you going to be able to fight if you can’t even walk, loser. Where do they find these guys, how pathetic.”

  
A woman came into view. Washington was surprised to see purple and green armor so similar to North’s armor.

He was under the assumption that everyone had their own specific colored armor.

  
Now Washington was really feeling overwhelmed. Luckily North showed up in time to save him, or so Washington thought.

Turns out, North was chuckling over the incident too. So much for making any friends. Washington shouldn’t be upset over this, he hardly knew the guy. He just assumed North was his friend; guess he was no better than the rest of them.

  
“All right guys, knock it off, give the new guy some space before ganging up on him. He is officially one of us now, Agent Washington, so show some respect.”

  
South answered him. “Sure, as little as possible.”

  
North turned to the guy in gold. “York, don’t you have a training session that you’re late for?”

  
“Sadly, I do. I’ll have to break up this little fun fest with our new rookie. But don’t worry, we have plenty of time to get acquainted. See ya later newb.”

  
He was still chuckling over Washington’s mishap. Washington cringed, he so didn’t like that guy.

  
North turned to South next. “Now sis, I already warned you to leave him alone. You’re in enough trouble with the Director as it is, I don’t want to see you get in any deeper, so stop it.”

  
“Oh fine, take away all my fun. You can stay here with this loser and not have fun. I’ll find something better to do without you.”

  
She violently pushed her way through North and Washington on her way out. North just shook his head and ignored it.

  
Washington was amazed. “You mean that is your sister?”

  
North shook his head. “ South Dakota, my twin sister no less. Yeah I know it’s hard to believe. She’s really a good person underneath, but you have to look hard to find it some days.”

  
Washington turned to leave. This should be the greatest experience of his young life. Instead, it was turning into disaster. Even the kids in military school didn’t act this immature. His head slumped down in despair. He didn’t belong here.

  
North understood. “Hey rookie, don’t let them get you down. York is an idiot, he picks on everyone, just ignore him. My sister though, she’ll hurt you…very badly.”

  
Washington turned pale white.

North laughed, but it was warm and friendly.

  
“Don’t worry rookie, I’ll take care of you. First off, Washington is a little long to say all the time. Your new nickname is now Wash, so get used to it.”

  
For the first time since leaving military school, Wash could relax. At least one person in this godforsaken place was decent. Maybe he really did belong here.

  
Silently from a distance, South watched the two of them. She didn’t like what she saw. She knew by the way her brother looked at Wash, he was totally into him. It wasn’t fair, she seen him first, why did North automatically get to win him?

  
Because North always has to be the good guy, the one that everybody likes, the well behaved twin. All their lives, she was compared to him, had to live up to the standards that he created. Never being allowed to live her own life.

  
She still loved her brother, they did everything together. Now this idiot comes in and wrecks it. North picked Wash over his own flesh and blood. Losing out twice in one day was too much. When would it be her turn?


	3. 3

Chapter 3

Dinner was served in the cafeteria at exactly 6:00. Rules were strict around here, if you were late, you wouldn’t eat.

Wash still had a lot of unpacking to do and come running in just as the doors slammed shut.

He grabbed a portion of the meal being served. Some protein that sort of resembled meat though god knows he couldn’t identify it. It was shoved between a serving of lumpy mashed potatoes and limp broccoli. Welcome to military life.

  
He checked out the seating arrangements, he didn’t know where to sit, he still didn’t know many of the freelancers. It made him think of all the awkward moments of middle school. He felt so out of place.

  
Just like in school, he could pick out the popular table. They were so confident and self assured.

Even though North was at the table, Wash kind of backed away. He also saw York and South, he didn’t feel like putting up with their crap.

  
The table in the back corner had to be the reject’s table. They were goofing around having too much fun and being way too loud about it.

A freelancer with flame red hair from the main table would shoot them nasty looks to settle down. They would for a moment then act up again. She shook her head disapprovingly.

  
Wash thought if he would fit in anywhere, it would be here. May as well join them. He was about to ask if he could have a seat, when a loud voice called out to him.

  
“Hey, If you sit over there it would be like social suicide rookie.” Only York’s mouth was big enough to be heard way across the noisy room.

  
Wash didn’t answer right away. He felt like it was a trick. He wasn’t as ignorant as York may think. He didn’t know if he was being teased or not. Only North could get him to come.

  
“Yeah Wash, we saved you a seat. Come on over.”

  
Wash was relieved. “Great.” He could trust North.

  
He found himself across the table from the stern red head. She would be really pretty if her green eyes didn’t watch him so critically. It was like she could see to his soul. He didn’t like it and kind of squirmed in his seat. She continued to scrutinize him.

  
On his left was North, he was okay there, but what was on his right scared him a lot more. South didn’t look particularly thrilled to be beside him either. This was going to be the dinner from hell.

  
It was an awkward silence. “Well, Wash you know everyone here except Carolina.” He motioned to the grumpy red head.

  
Wash wanted to make friends with her. “Hi I’m…”

  
“I already know who you are.”

  
“Okay.” So much for that idea.

  
Luckily York broke the awkwardness. “You know Rookie, you’re always supposed to be in full uniform at all times around here. That includes the helmet. That means you have to sleep and eat with it on.”

  
“You guys don’t have yours on.”

  
“We have seniority over you, we earned that right. You’re the rookie, you have to play by the rules.”

  
“For real?”

  
“For real.” York and South said it together.

  
“While eating?” This couldn’t be right. He shrugged. “All right, if you say so.”

  
He tried to take a bite, he had to pretty much lift up the whole mask to find his mouth. He somehow managed it and nearly choked to death. York and South laughed like crazy and even North was chuckling.

  
South whacked him on the back. “Fun, wasn’t it sucker?”

  
Carolina had enough. “That’s enough out of all of you.” She turned to Wash. “Why would you think you could eat through your helmet?”

  
Wash motioned to York. “Because he said I could.” He cringed at the words as soon as they left his mouth. What a weak excuse.”

  
“Seriously? Watch out in case he ever tells you it’s a good idea to jump off a bridge.”

  
“Yeah, he would do it, he’s too gullible .”

  
“Shut up South.” North was still chuckling, but he needed to stick up for Wash. Teasing was one thing, being cruel was another.

  
“Now Washington, what can you do? I mean you have some kind of skill or talent don’t you, why else would you be here?”

  
Wash could only give her a blank look.

  
“We all have our specialty, something only we can bring to the program. And since you obviously don’t, I suggest finding it fast if you want to survive.”

  
Now Wash was really worried. This program was all one big mistake.

  
North understood. “I volunteer, I’ll help him. I’ll make a solider out of him and take full responsibility on his training.”

  
That pissed off South. She grabbed her tray, slammed it down on the counter and stormed out. Carolina looked a little concerned.

  
“Will she be okay?”

  
North nodded. “She just has to learn she’s not always the center of attention.”

  
“It should be me training him. I’m the top of the Leaderboard, it’s kind of my duty.”

  
“No, thank you, I got this. Well kid, rest up. Tomorrow you start boot camp.”

  



	4. 4

Chapter 4

  
Something in North’s icy blue eyes stayed on Wash’s mind. He couldn’t figure out why, and it was bugging him.

Being around him was so different than being with his own family. He and sister never got along, not too differently than North and South bickering all the time. But Wash was never able to forgive her the way North always forgave South.

  
Wash’s dad was all military, all serious. He had no patience for raising a weak son. Wash could never talk to him, he was too afraid to.

But with North, he could tell him everything. He never judged, never questioned, he always listened. No matter how stupid or trivial it sounded.

  
Wash constantly had nightmares. It bothered since he was a little kid. His mother always passed it off as normal child behavior. To his dad, it was a weakness.

He learned to repress the fear and never show it. He got good at it over the years, and he thought it was gone.

  
His first night there, the nightmare returned. He couldn’t help it, he screamed out in terror once before waking up shaking. He willed his mind to make the terror go away; he didn’t even know what it was. Had hoped no one heard, it was too embarrassing.

Within minutes North knocked on his door.

  
“Wash, are you okay?”

  
He was still shaking, but lied anyway. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just a bad dream.”

  
North knew he was terrified, but wouldn’t let on that he knew.

“This is a weird building, it gives off a lot of bad vibes. It takes a while to get used to, that can cause a lot of strange dreams. It’s normal.”

  
“Why are you awake?”

  
“I never sleep, I’m a well trained solider. No, South has issues with sleeping, she always has. I spend half my night worrying that she’s okay. I try to get a little sleep here and there. So see, you’re not the only one.”

  
His voice was so calm and soothing, it made Wash feel better. For the first time in his life, he didn’t feel out of place. North didn’t act like Wash was a disappointment or a freak like his family did.

Wash was exactly where he was supposed to be. He liked his codename Washington, it made him empowered. His given name David only brought bad memories. He never wanted to use it again. Wash was good enough for him.

  
“How about if I stay here with you for a little while so you can fall back asleep?”

  
“That would be great.”

  
The two spent most of the night talking about everything. Wash talked about his controlling father and his terrible relationship with his sister.

North told him about being raised in the suburbs in Michigan. Having a pretty normal childhood, and what life was like being a twin.

  
A question stuck out in Wash’s mind. “Why do they give us codenames after states if they’re not the states we live in? I’m not from Washington and you’re not from North Dakota.”

  
“I guess the names are picked at random for most of us. Though Maine really is from Maine and York is the from the streets of New York City. He was into petty crime, that’s how he got this job.”

  
“That makes sense.”

  
Wash was trying to talk about anything and everything to keep North there. His dad would have thrown a fit if he knew his son was having feelings for another man. But Wash couldn’t help it.

Despite his best efforts to stay awake , Wash fell asleep at some point. When he woke up, North was gone. He was disappointed, though he didn’t know what he expected to happen. It wasn’t like he was interested in men. He gathered up his gear, may as well start the day.

  
There was a brief knock on the door, North peeked in the door.

“Want to get a little practice at the range before breakfast?”

  
“Sure, be right there.” Wash smiled. At least things weren’t awkward between them. Who knows where this can go.

  



	5. 5

Chapter 5

  
For the next two weeks, Wash was up bright and early for training sessions with North. The trick was to find his signature style of fighting.

All the agents had their own trademark. The question still remained, did Wash have any?

After major problems with a grappling hook which gave him some quality thinking time, not to mention some hospital time, Wash was ready to give up.

  
“It’s no use North, it’s hopeless. I’m just not good at anything. Guess I am worthless”

  
“No way, I don’t believe that. Everybody can do something. You just have to keep looking. We will figure it out together.”

  
Wash thought to himself, “my god, he’s always so upbeat and positive. Why won’t he give up on me. I would by now.”

  
Later that day, they were alone in the rec room. Wash worked up the The courage to ask North why.

  
North sighed, “It’s true, you don’t have a lot of talent for one specific duty, but you have a ton of heart. Maybe that is your talent. I’d rather have you fighting at my side than some others around here. That may or may not even include South.”

  
He sensed her movement behind him.

“How the hell do you always know I’m around? And what was that crack about not trusting me?”

  
“Oh you know I trust you, it was a joke. Lighten up.”

  
“So not funny. Why do you spend all your time with this loser? You used to train with me, we had fun.”

  
North rolled his eyes. “Why don’t you get a friend?”

  
“Cause everyone here sucks. The only decent one is CT. She’s hopeless like your rookie is. She’s no competition to my status. He will bring you down on the Leaderboard list bro, cause if you check it, I’m still one space ahead of you.”

  
“I’ll take that into consideration.”

  
“Seriously, you don’t want to hang out?”

  
“We have plans for today, I can’t.”  
Rage lit up her pale blue eyes.

 

“Fine.”   
She took a pretend swing at Wash on her way out. He flinched as if she was really going to hit him. She laughed. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Later losers.”

  
“So mature South. Well Wash, you want to try shooting at the range. It seems like that’s what you’re best at. I’ll let you try out my sniper rifle.”

  
He tried to be positive like always, but the strain with his sister was getting to him. Wash felt like it was all his fault. He wished he could help, but he didn’t know how. The most he knew was to be there for North.

  
As what often happened lately, he felt lost in those pale, pale eyes. There was always a fire burning in them, Wash loved it. North returned his gaze. Wash blushed and looked away.

  
He always felt like the dorky little brother of the Freelancer group, always out of place. His dark blond hair wasn’t as fair as North’s. He felt that his big, blue eyes looked way too innocent, and he always hated his freckles. This was why the girls in school always passed him by, and why Carolina would never give him the time of day. Why would North even like him?

  
Though Wash looked away, North didn’t. There was so much emotion in those eyes. He accepted Wash the way he was, he didn’t expect him to change; he didn’t want him to.

Wash found the courage to look again. It was like looking at his soul mate. If there really was such a thing, he was it. It would all be okay. But they were being watched.

  
Carolina didn’t like what she saw. Relationships between the freelancers were forbidden. She had a hard time hiding hers with York.

She lived in constant fear of the Director finding out, and she worried about Wash and North. She liked both of them and didn’t want to see them get hurt. She made sure to make some subtle noise so they knew she was coming.

  
They snapped out of the moment and tried to look innocent as if they were just hanging out.

  
“Hey North, the new AI assignments are coming out. You may want to check up on it.”

  
“What are those?”

She had Wash’s full attention.

  
“Something that you don’t need to worry about since you’re the lowest ranking Freelancer.”

The truth hurt his feelings. Carolina was sorry, but wouldn’t show it.

  
North was nicer about it. “Part of the program is to pair up freelancers with a compatible AI so we’re more efficient in battle.”

  
“What’s an AI?”

  
Carolina rolled her eyes. “Artificial Intelligence, which is more than you have. North, you and York are up tomorrow, they’re pairing you with Theta.”

  
North nodded. “Sounds good. What about South, she should be due for her AI soon, when are they giving her one?”

  
Carolina couldn’t tell him the truth. “Don’t know, probably soon. You’ll have to ask the Director.”

She already knew South wasn’t getting one, but didn’t have the heart to break it to the twins.

  
“Where is your AI?”

  
North cringed. “Wash don’t…”

  
“I gave up my AI, Sigma, to save Maine’s life. Thank you for bringing up that sensitive subject.”

  
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

  
“Well, now you know. Hope you enjoyed prying in my business.” She turned and stalked out the door.

  
Wash was crushed, he liked her a lot. He wanted her to like him.

“What did I do?”

  
North just shook his head and headed to the range.


	6. 6

Chapter 6

  
North made it through his surgery just fine. The operation to attach the AI Theta was scheduled kind of late in the day. Though there was only a minimal recovery time, it was recommended that he take it easy for a while.

York received his AI,Delta, earlier in the day. He was already up and around and being loud, so North would be fine. Wash still couldn’t help but worry.

  
Mostly they all worried over South. She started out with concern for her brother; she was proud of him for earning his AI. Her ulterior motive was that if he earned his, she would soon get hers. That was what she cared about.

  
Since they were twins, she got dibs on visiting him first. She had a ton of questions about what having an AI was like. Wash was irritated that she didn’t care about her brother.

He couldn’t say anything, it wasn’t his business and she could easily kill him. North didn’t seem to notice it, so Wash said nothing.  
Finally, it was Wash’s turn to visit. They didn’t get much time, they were interrupted by the screaming commotion going on in the hallway.

  
North recognized his sister’s high pitched screeching.

  
“Oh lord, what’s her problem now?” He tried to get out of bed to check on her. Wash had to stop him.

  
“No, I’ll go check. You shouldn’t be up yet.”

  
“Be careful.”

  
Wash arrived in time to see South being physically held back by York and Carolina. She was focused on going after Wash. She almost broke loose.

“I’m sick of him ruining my life.”

  
“What’s going on?”

  
South pulled away, glared hatefully at Wash, and pounded the wall on her way out. Carolina halfheartedly followed after her. York stayed with Wash, it was safer.

  
“Somebody was told that she’s not getting her AI.”

  
“That was worth making all that noise?”

  
“You don’t understand, that AI meant everything to her. She’s super competitive like Carolina is. All she cares about is that leaderboard and being the best.”

  
“She had North all upset.”

  
York nodded. “He’s used to that. He worries over her like I do with Carolina.”

He shot Wash a knowing look. “But you didn’t hear that from me, it’s got to be kept a secret, but everyone knows we’re a couple.”

  
Wash understood. He and North needed to be careful. Their relationship would especially be frowned upon. His own father would shoot him on sight.

  
“And in case you didn’t hear Rookie, you really should stay clear of South. The reason she’s not getting her AI is that you are getting it. It’s name is Epsilon.”

  
“What, I don’t even know what they are. Why am I getting one?”

  
“I have no idea. You’re only the second worst solider on the roster.”

  
“ Hey, what do you mean I’m the second worst?”

  
“Sorry, I meant the worst. I was trying to spare your feelings.” He gave him a teasing smile.

“But I’m not kidding about South, she wants to strangle you, so be careful.”

  
Wash was worried, his face turned pale.

  
York laughed. “Don’t worry Rookie. You’re one if us now, we’ll all protect you.”

  
“Great. Why do I not feel better about this?”

 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

  
South was so mad, she was crying. She pounded and kicked on the lockers in frustration, not caring about the damage she was causing.

She knew Carolina was trailing her, she tried to give her the slip. It seemed to work. She was all alone in the locker room. Carolina was such a teacher’s pet, what did she know about anything? She paced back and forth, all of a sudden she tripped.

  
“What the hell…Carolina, how…where the hell did you come from?”

  
“I was trying to make sure you’re okay. Judging from the damage in this locker room I don’t think you are.”

  
“So what, do you want a medal? I want to be left alone.”

  
Carolina wouldn’t give up. “Not getting an AI is not the end of the world. I lost mine, I really want it back, but I’m not making everybody miserable just because I’m miserable.”

  
“Oh, what do you know. I can’t believe that loser is taking everything from me, first my brother then my AI. He better hope I don’t get a hold of him.”

  
“For your sake, you better hope you don’t. If you touch him, you answer to me. He can’t defend himself, not against the way you fight.”

  
“I deserve that AI, I deserve to be higher on that Leaderboard!”

  
“ Then stop whining about it and work harder for it like I do. I’m not going to baby you like your brother does. It’s time to grow up.” She stalked out.

  
South flopped down on the bench. Now that she finally had the privacy she needed, it was safe to let her true feelings come out. She was tired of being the antisocial badass of the team. It wasn’t always like that.

  
She was so embarrassed that she ever liked Wash, she should have known it was too good to be true for her. It was no wonder he picked North, everybody liked him better.

He even replaced her number four ranking on the Leaderboard, she was now in fifth place; so humiliating. Why did everyone betray her?

  
Unfortunately, she wasn’t quite as alone as she thought. Her temper tantrum caught the attention of someone worse than Carolina.

Maine was always so quiet, even before he lost his vocal chords. Now with his new AI, Sigma, he could literally blend into the walls. Sigma could manipulate a camouflaging ability so Maine can pass by undetected. Sigma also gave him a voice.

  
“Poor South, so ambitious, such a great solider. Too bad they keep holding you back. We could make a great team, you and I. I could be your AI, they hold me back too. Bring me more AIs. I will be powerful enough to be on my own. The two of us could do great things together. This big, dumb animal isn’t worthy of me, he’s too easily manipulated.”

  
South stopped sniffling and thought long and hard. “Seriously, you can do that?”

  
“I am the most powerful AI, I can do anything I want. If you help me, I’ll help you.”

  
“How do I get the AIs from the guys?

  
“Kill them.”

  
“ No way, I can’t. My brother has one, and York is my friend. Wyoming I’m not crazy about, but he’s still my teammate.”

  
“Hmm, have they thought of you lately? Your brother seems to think more of his new boyfriend than he thinks of you. And your ‘so called ‘ friends haven’t been around for you lately, have they?”

  
Her face burned with anger. Sigma did have a point. But still, she couldn’t just murder them.

Sigma knew he had her confused. That was what he wanted, she was hooked. He turned and acted like he was going to leave.

  
“Wait, if you promise not to hurt them, I’ll help get the AIs for you.”

  
Sigma stopped and looked at her. “Very well, not as much fun as death, but I suppose that will do. Wait for the perfect time. You will know when it is. Farewell my dear South.”

  
“My god, what have I done? I should have talked to North first. I should have talked to the Director.”

  
Sigma’s words ran through her mind, haunting her.

“No, they held me back, they betrayed me, they deserve it. I need to do this.”

  
She looked at her reflection in the mirror. She looked maniacal. The tear stains dried on her face, her black mascara streaked. She looked crazy. The power rush running through her made her feel crazy. She liked it, she wouldn’t let anyone take it from her.

 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

  
South tried to clean herself up. Her black mascara streaked badly and the more she scrubbed at it, the worse it smeared. Damn, this waterproof shit really is waterproof.

She managed to get off most of it. She shrugged her shoulders and gave up. She didn’t care what she looked like, her long bangs helped hide it.

She went to join the rest of the Agents. There was a meeting scheduled in the Classroom, and she was already late. Now she had to pretend that everything was all right, but it’s not all right. It never will again.

  
She went running into the room. As she thought, she was late. The meeting started without her. Not a word was said when she loudly flounced down in her seat, not showing any respect for the Director or the other Agents.

She didn’t even pretend to care about what Church was rambling on about as she propped her legs up on the desk and lounged back in the chair.She got several curious looks, but she ignored them. Who cared what they thought.

  
North couldn’t concentrate on the meeting, he was too focused on South. She could feel his stare from the back of the room, but she refused to turn around. He could always seem to read her mind. He may know what she was up to. For his own safety, she couldn’t let him.

  
Church finished his big talk about the AI program and more advanced training sequences. South didn’t even try to hold back a big yawn. Boring. Big deal, she could get her own AI herself, without anyone’s help, so there.

The class was dismissed until the morning. She tried to sneak out of the room without having to talk to anybody. She should have known better.

  
North cornered her against a wall before she could slip out the door. As usual, he had Wash following right behind him, like a trained puppy. She rolled her eyes at the sight of him. Guess he was supposed to be the backup.

  
“What North? If you’re smart, you’ll leave me alone.”

  
“Are you Okay? You just took off on us at the infirmary. Carolina told me about how you tore up the locker room. You didn’t need to be off by yourself, why didn’t you come to me? You know I’m always on your side, I could have helped you.”

  
North, even you can’t help me now.

“Why do you even care? You got your precious AI and now I can’t have one. You made sure the Rookie loser got one, how convient.Why do you want me hanging around anyway?”

  
“That’s not fair, Wash and I had nothing to do with that.”

  
“I was getting too good, wasn’t I? You’d rather have your little boyfriend at your side. I see where your loyalty lies. You wouldn’t even let me date him when he first showed up.”

  
Now that had Wash’s attention.

“You mean you actually like me?”

  
Damn it. “In your dreams loser.” I hate my life.

  
North’s critical frown deepened. He stared deep into her eyes, so desperate to find out what she was up to. She squirmed under his critical look. He had the uncanny ability to read her mind and she was a terrible liar. She needed out of here.

  
“What is wrong you? Please just tell me, because I have a bad feeling about this.”

  
Oh god, he’s going to find out.

“Nothing is wrong. It hurts to see you with him.” She pointed to Wash. “I don’t fit in anymore. I’m trying to find my own life, so you can go live yours anyway you want. Right now, just let me go.”

  
North moved out of her way so she could pass. She took the out and ran out the door.

North was scared that at that moment, he lost her forever. The scary part was he didn’t know why.

  
Carolina and York stood by watching the show. York had an amused look on his face. Oh the possibilities of comments he could make. Carolina elbowed him in the ribs to keep him quiet. She tried to help North.

  
“I can’t believe she acted like that.”

  
North shook his head. “You’ve seen her flip out before.”

  
“No, usually her anger’s always directed to me. She hardly ever acts like that with you.”

  
“Thanks, way to make me feel better. I’m going to bed, I’ve had enough.”

  
Sigma also saw. For the first time in his existence, he was worried.

“Damn that South, she’s such an idiot. If she starts talking again, she’ll give away the whole plan. A little hack in the computer can fix it.”

  
He turned to his silent protégé.

“Maine, we have some intimidation scheduled for tonight. That will guarantee she’ll watch her mouth. Rest up, our master plan goes into effect tomorrow.”


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

  
All the practice missions were scheduled in the Mainframe computer. The Director went to every extreme to ensure the integrity of his program, every precaution was taken. No one could hack the program, that would be impossible.

Almost impossible, he underestimated his own AIs.

Sigma had other plans ready.

  
This new training session was to include York and the twins. He desperately wanted to add Wyoming on the list, but his name was already added to another mission.

Disappointing, but there were still things Sigma couldn’t control. Yet two AIs would help make him stronger. Gamma could easily be captured later, so no worries. All Sigma needed was South’s cooperation.

  
South was trying to calm down, she was too wound up to sleep. She always had trouble sleeping and found that music helped her relax.

Her mood called for some Goth Metal, and strangely enough it did the trick. She caught herself dozing off between songs.

  
There was a loud pounding on the door. South jumped up, suddenly awake.

She got bad vibes from whoever or whatever was behind that door. All she saw was the flash of gold from Maine’s helmet. The giant agent had to stoop down just to bust his way through the door.

  
Despite Maine’s strength and statue, he had always had a gentle nature. He was a big marshmallow underneath, never intentionally hurting anyone unless under orders. South had no reason to fear him… except now.

This monster standing in front of her wasn’t Maine. Sigma had the voice and intelligence, now he had the muscle to back it all up.

  
South was fearless by nature, but even she shuddered at what she saw. My god, what have I done? I made a deal with the devil.

  
“Maine, what the hell are you doing? It’s after midnight, you can’t be here. There are rules.”

  
Sigma answered for him. “I know my dear, there are rules. Rules you repeatedly broke with your little drama queen performance tonight.”

  
She scoffed. “That doesn’t mean anything, they’ve seen me flip out like that before. It’s kind of my thing, that’s how I get attention. None of those morons would think twice about it.”

  
“You better hope so. You’re so close to goals, I would hate to see our relationship end because of a temper tantrum. But I am willing to forgive and forget.”

  
South was suspicious, she didn’t understand what was going on. “Okay, that’s good. I guess.”

  
“First thing in the morning, you will go make up with your brother. He is very smart, and already suspicious of our plan. Put away any doubts that he may have. Everything will be fine.”

  
Her face scrunched into a pout. “Maybe I don’t want to apologize to him. I’m still mad.”

  
Sigma’s patience was at the end. “I don’t care, you will apologize and mean it. I have too much at stake with this, I will not have it ruined by a spoiled child. If you don’t keep in your place and follow orders, I will kill you all. Is that clear?”

  
Maine took a step forward, and stared her down. This deal keeps getting worse and worse. Still with South being South, no matter how afraid she was now, she would be damned if she’d show it.

She stepped closer to Maine and returned the stare.

  
“Fine, I’ll do things your way Sigma. Just keep to the deal as planned. I’ll go along with whatever   
you want.”

  
“Good, now we are on the same page. I apologize for the outburst. Do your job tomorrow and your reward will be here before you know it.” Maine turned and left.

  
“Well shit, now what do I do?”


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

  
There was no sleep for South that night. She tossed and turned, but she was too scared to rest. Now she wanted to tell North, but what choice did she have?

Sigma threatened to kill all of them, and she believed him. She was stuck.

  
It was still awfully early, but she couldn’t wait any longer. She was still mad at North, she felt abandoned. Yet he was the one she needed right now.

Even if she couldn’t confide in him, just his calming presence would help.

  
She pounded on his door. He hardly ever slept, he would be awake. “Bro, If I’m sorry, can I come in?”

  
North’s voice sounded muffled. “It’s not exactly a good time.”

  
South groaned. “Seriously dude, like I don’t know Wash is in there. Grow up, can I just come in already.”

  
The door unlocked and swung open. “You have a funny way of apologizing.”

  
“Whatever, I said I was sorry. Get over it.”

  
“Yeah, I suppose I have to. Did you get up this early just to tell me that or did you have another reason?” He didn’t trust her.

  
“No, no other reasons. I felt guilty for starting the fight and I couldn’t sleep until I apologized to you guys.”

  
Now he knew he didn’t trust her.

“Yeah right, why do I find that hard to believe?”

  
“It’s the truth.”

  
She said it lamely. She was looking too unsure of herself, and was avoiding all eye contact with her brother.

He was determined to find out what she was hiding.  
Wash panicked when he heard South at the door. Even though he had boxer shorts on, he was still embarrassed.

He tried to discreetly reach over to grab his pants while staying safely under the covers. He tried, but failed.

  
His arms weren’t quite long enough and he fell out of the bed and collapsed to the floor.”Damnit!”

  
Thanks to commotion, South got a good look. His face burned as he tried to slip on his pants without tripping. Why did he always have to be a dork? North looked at him affectionately which made him feel worse. It felt like pity.

  
South was amused. “He doesn’t have much in brains, but he has a cute ass.”

  
Wash wished he could disappear. North got overprotective and tried to block him from South.

  
“No North, I wanted to talk to Wash too.”

  
North looked doubtful, but moved away. Now nothing could save Wash from South’s fists.

“I really wanted to apologize for all the crap I’ve put you through since you showed up, you didn’t deserve it. And congratulations on getting your AI, that you totally deserve.”

It sounded too forced, she didn’t mean any of it. She hoped Wash was too dumb to know the difference.

  
“How dumb do you think I am? What’s the catch?”

  
South smacked her fist against the wall, she wished it was Wash’s face. “I am trying to nice here loser, don’t push me too far.”

  
North got involved. “All right, you said your piece. We have to get changed, so scram.”

  
“Fine, I tried.”

  
“I know you did, I appreciate the effort.”

  
North stood staring at the door. He knew something was wrong, and it hurt that she wouldn’t tell him.

  
Wash felt bad for him. “Maybe she was just being nice, people can change after all.”

  
North was still distracted. “No, not her. She’s up to something. That girl holds a grudge, she never apologizes for anything she’s done. It always someone else’s fault.”

  
Leaving the room, they ran into York.

  
“Hey, you guys see the new assignment sheets yet? Just came out this morning. Guess it was last minute, even the Director didn’t know about it. Must be pretty important.”

  
Wash was confused. “How did you know about it then?”

  
“D told me. That’s the advantage to having an AI, he can hack into the computer system. I tried to get him to change my grades, but he won’t do it.”

  
He had North’s attention. “Who’s all involved in this?”

  
“Just the two us and your sister. Something about using our AIs to complete a mission.”

  
“South doesn’t have one, why is she going?”

  
“Don’t know, you’ll have to ask the Director. All I know is to be ready in an hour if you’re going.”

  
“Sure, I’ll be there.” He was very distracted, and really wasn’t listening.

  
“Too bad I haven’t gotten Epsilon yet. I could go to.”

  
“Maybe you can still go. South is going and she doesn’t have an AI. I’m your teacher, this would be good experience for you.”

  
“Hey, that’s great!”

  
North raised an eyebrow. Wash cringed. Calm it down, act like a real agent.

  
“I mean that’s great, Sir. I’m ready for battle.”

  
North had to laugh at him. “At ease solider, just behave yourself.”  



	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

“Why the hell is Wash here ? He doesn’t even have his AI.”

  
“You don’t either, and you’re going.”

  
Damnit. “You idiots have to ruin everything.”

  
North’s eyes narrowed. “Ruin what?”

  
“Nothing…I just don’t want to be stuck hanging out with losers all day.” It was weak, but it was a reason.

  
He was so close to getting her to talk. “Well, it’s only one mission. You can tolerate being seen with us for that long.”

  
He knew how South’s mind worked. She couldn’t keep a secret. The bigger the secret, the faster she blabbed about it. He was amazed she lasted this long. He just needed a little longer, he would get the truth out of her one way or another.

  
She hadn’t stopped whining for the entire flight. She was afraid of flying, though she was too proud to admit it. So she had to pass it over with a super bitchy attitude.

  
Now it was Wash’s turn to act up. “Uh, now is probably not the best to mention that I’m getting air sick.”

  
“If you get sick in your helmet, it will eliminate it for you.” York was bored, and needed someone to pick on.

  
“Oh really?”

  
“Wash, don’t even try it.”

  
“Damn North, you got to ruin all my fun.”

  
“Cool it guys, we’re almost there. I don’t want to be the only mature solider here.”

  
The plane landed safely. The first task was to break through the heavy entrance doors as quietly as possible. North took it upon himself to be the team leader. He didn’t mean to, it just sort of happened.

  
“York, you’re the infiltration expert. You’re up first.”

  
“Move out of my way, I got this.”

  
A voice tried to interfere. “York, I do not believe this is a good idea.”

  
“Shut up D. I’ve done this a million times. What’s the worst that could happen?”

  
Delta was persistent. “York don’t…”

  
All York saw was a flash. Then came the terrible boom. His body was thrown against the wall. He was still. North couldn’t tell if he was still breathing or not. He wasn’t able to check, he had a giant obstacle standing in front of him.

  
“Maine, what are you doing?”

  
Sigma’s fiery form appeared. “We are not Maine, we are The Meta.”

  
“Oh shit.”

 

  
South let out a scream when she saw York’s lifeless body. “Sigma, what the hell did you do? This wasn’t part of the deal.”

  
North turned to look at her. “You rotten little bitch, you sold us out. How could you?” The look on his face would haunt South for the rest of her life.

  
“No, it wasn’t supposed to be this way, I swear. Sigma only wanted the AIs.”

Sigma had enough.  
“Shut up girl, you have outlived your usefulness. He turned to North. “Now I’ll be taking Theta.”

  
“Over my dead body.”

  
“That is the general idea.”

  
Wash charged into the room, his gun aimed at Maine. Something snapped inside him. North was the best friend he ever had, he couldn’t lose him.

Sigma chuckled over the spectacle, he wasn’t the least bit worried on his odds. Maine’s Brute shot was aimed at Wash’s head; this wouldn’t take long.

  
North knew where that shot was going. His instincts were to protect Wash, no matter the cost.

The first shot hit his left side as he lunged forward to block it. He knew he was dying, so he used to body to shield Wash from the next two shots.

  
South screamed. “No, damn you Wash, this is all your fault.” She shot her pistol, the bullet hit Wash straight in the back. Good, it should kill him.

  
Sigma smiled at her. “Very good my child. You have saved us the trouble of not leaving any survivors. Is it your turn now?”

  
“I don’t think So Sigma.”

Carolina had been trailing the group the whole time. She knew something was wrong with the mission; she was right.

South turned to run. If Sigma wouldn’t kill her, Carolina certainly will when she sees the bodies.

  
“South wait, I need your help.” She pushed past Carolina and ran out the door. Carolina stood in perfect battle stance. She would fight Maine alone if she had to.

Maine was ready to answer her challenge. Sigma had to intervene.

  
“Maine, back down. We are not ready yet. There will be another day.”

  
Maine camouflaged into the background and made his escape. That’s when Carolina noticed the bodies around her.

  
She cried out, “What the hell did they do?” North was gone, that was obvious. Wash was bleeding badly, but holding on. When she saw York’s crumpled form, she had to choke back the tears. He had a pulse, but it was so weak. She was losing him.

  
It wasn’t safe to move him, so stayed with Wash. He was semi conscious   
and she wanted to keep him stable until help came.

  
He could hardly talk, but he tried. “How’s North?”

  
“I’m sorry, he’s gone.”

  
“South helped them, she’s to blame for all this. She shot me.” He was choking, Carolina had to make him stay still.

  
Full blown rage flashed in her bright green eyes. She was completely in love with York, but there was something about Wash. The way he was always picked on and treated badly, he deserved better. Now he lost his only friend.

South will pay for this, but first she’s going to kill Maine.

 


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

  
Wash drifted in and out of consciousness. He vaguely heard voices, but nothing really made sense to him.

He was aware of the flatlined beeping when York died. He heard Carolina’s scream of despair and her tearing apart the waiting room.

Time passed, he didn’t know how long. All sounds were muffled, everything was going dark. He felt so weak, he wanted to die. He wanted North. Why wouldn’t it end?

  
“Give him Epsilon, it’ll save his life. We’re losing him.”

  
Wash went from feeling nothing, to excoriating pain. Visions and voices and bright lights, he wanted to scream, but no sound came out. He had severe convulsions, there was control. Maybe now death would come for him.

  
“Take out the AI. He’s flatlining, I don’t think he’ll make it.”

  
Everything was still, the pounding left his head, but he was so weak, he didn’t care what happened. He was brought back to consciousness by someone punching his arm.

  
“Oww.” He struggled to open his eyes. All he could see was blond hair and pale blue eyes. “North?”

  
“Not even close loser.”

  
Now he was alert. “Why the hell are you here South?”

  
“I came to plead my case. No one will listen to me. I thought maybe you would.”

  
“You’ve got to be kidding me, after what all you did. Why would I help you?”

  
“Because you’re a decent guy. That’s why I always liked you, no matter how badly I picked on you.”

  
“Yeah right, I’m not that gullible.”

  
“Please, they’ll kill me.”

  
“You deserve it. You killed your own brother. He was the greatest guy in the world, and you had him murdered like he was nothing.”

  
“It wasn’t my fault…”

  
“Yes it was. You had how many chances to tell him what was wrong, to tell any of us. We were a team, we would have helped you. No, you wanted it all for yourself. You picked a stupid AI over your own friends.”

  
She couldn’t handle that it was the truth. “Wash please.”

  
“No, I’m done. You better leave South. Wait until I’m fully recovered. There is no where you can hide, I will hunt you down and I will kill you.”

  
Agent Washington emerged a true solider at last.


End file.
